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Cato’s constitutional scholars address a wide range of
constitutional and legal issues — from federalism to economic
liberty, property rights, civil rights, criminal law and procedure,
asset forfeiture, and term limits, to name just a few. Cato expects
the judiciary to be the “bulwark” of our liberties, as James
Madison put it, neither making up nor ignoring the law but
interpreting and applying it through the natural rights tradition
we inherited from the founding generation.

Cato’s criminal justice scholars are dedicated to restoring the
integrity and legitimacy of the criminal justice systems in the
United States. At the federal, state, and local levels, the various
institutions and individuals that make up our criminal justice
systems lack appropriate oversight and accountability, and
consistently give priority to the enforcement of laws-such as
marijuana possession-that do not threaten the fabric of civil
society while failing to effectively enforce laws-such as homicide,
assault, and theft-that do. Cato’s civil liberties scholars are
committed to rolling back the surveillance state as investigative
agencies utilize new laws and technologies to undermine the
constitutional rights of American citizens.

Cato’s education research is founded on the principle that parents are best suited to make important decisions regarding the care and education of their children. Our researchers seek to shift the terms of public debate in favor of the fundamental right of parents and toward a future where government-run schools give way to a dynamic, independent system of schools competing to meet the needs of American children.

Cato’s energy and environment studies are devoted to explaining
how energy markets work and promoting policies that leave questions
regarding energy consumption, environmental standards, market
structure, and technology to the market rather than government
planners. Cato is committed to protecting the environment without
sacrificing economic liberty, and believes that those goals are
mutually supporting, not mutually exclusive.

History has shown that monetary stability — money growth
consistent with a stable and predictable value of money — is
an important determinant of economic stability. As capital markets
become more sophisticated, they are simultaneously more crucial to
the functioning of a complex economy and more difficult for
policymakers to understand. Cato’s analysts study the workings of
the capital markets, the value of free flows of capital, and the
burdens imposed on markets by regulation.

Cato’s foreign and defense policies are guided by the view that
the United States is relatively secure, and so should engage the
world, trade freely, and work with other countries on common
concerns, but avoid trying to dominate it militarily. We should be
an example of democracy and human rights, not their armed
vindicator abroad. Although that view is largely absent in
Washington, D.C. today, it has a rich history, from George
Washington to Cold War realists like George Kennan. Cato scholars
aim to restore it. A principled and restrained foreign policy would
keep the nation out of most foreign conflicts and be cheaper, more
ethical, and less destructive of civil liberties.

Today, government poses many new threats to individual freedom and the virtues needed for its preservation. Unfortunately, career politicians, an ever-expanding government and massive regulatory constraints dominate American political life. Cato’s government and politics studies are dedicated to bringing the ideals of individual liberty, civil society, limited government and citizen legislators back to the forefront of American political life.

Cato’s entitlement research demonstrates that consumers are
better off when they, and not the government, are in charge of how
their money is spent. This applies to health care, Social Security,
and other areas where the government currently controls the
dispersal of our tax dollars. In particular, Cato has been a
longtime advocate of deregulating the health care industry, so that
consumers can afford the health care insurance and treatment of
their choice, and privatizing Social Security.

Cato seeks to promote a better understanding around the world of
the benefits of market-liberal policy solutions to combat some of
the most pressing problems faced by developing nations. In
particular, Cato’s research seeks to advance policies that protect
human rights, extend the range of personal choice, and support the
central role of economic freedom in ending world poverty. Cato
scholars also recognize that open markets mean wider choices and
lower prices for businesses and consumers, as well as more vigorous
competition that encourages greater productivity.

The Jeffersonian philosophy that animates Cato’s work has
increasingly come to be called “libertarianism” or “market
liberalism.” Rooted in the traditional American principles of
individual liberty and limited government, it combines an
appreciation for entrepreneurship, the market process, and lower
taxes with strict respect for civil liberties and skepticism about
the benefits of both the welfare state and foreign military
adventurism.

The federal government’s antipoverty programs have failed to
promote opportunity, self-sufficiency, and inclusion. Cato’s
research demonstrates that economic opportunity, rather than
welfare programs, are the solution to poverty in America.
Specifically, removing government-imposed barriers to prosperity in
areas such as education, criminal justice system, zoning
regulations, and occupational licensure, among others.

Today, there is no greater impediment to American prosperity
than the immense body of regulations chronicled in the Federal
Register, and academic analysis has documented the economic
inefficiencies engendered by the regulatory state. Cato’s
regulatory studies set forth a market-oriented vision of
“regulatory rollback” that relies on the incentive forces of
private property rights to create competitive markets and to
provide consumer information and protection.

Social Security is not sustainable without reform. Simply put,
it cannot pay promised future benefits with current levels of
taxation. Yet raising taxes or cutting benefits will only make a
bad deal worse. However, allowing younger workers to privately
invest their Social Security taxes through individual accounts will
improve Social Security’s rate of return; provide better retirement
benefits; treat women, minorities, and low-income workers more
fairly; and give workers real ownership and control of their
retirement funds.

Cato’s economic research examines federal, state, and local
spending and tax issues from a limited government perspective.
Specifically, Cato’s economic research explores the benefits of
lower taxes, a significantly reduced federal budget, and less
government involvement in market processes.

Cato’s research on telecommunications and information policy
advances a vision of free minds and free markets within the
information policy, information technology, and telecommunications
sectors of the American economy. Cato scholars work to address the
many contentious public policy concerns and debates surrounding
these important sectors, including privacy, identification, data
security and the information economy; regulation of traditional
telecommunications, Internet network management, and
electromagnetic spectrum; and intellectual property issues such as
copyrights and patents.

By any reasonable measure, Americans are better off now than
during comparable periods in the past, and expanding engagement in
the global economy has played an important role in the ongoing,
upward trend in American employment and living standards. To
promote further progress for American workers and households,
Congress and the administration should pursue policies that expand
the freedom of Americans to participate in global markets.